• Posted on 01/19 at 09:09 AM
14 years ago this past Saturday, William E. Schaadt passed away at Memorial hospital in Santa Rosa, CA. Bob Nauheim and Russell Chatham wrote corresponding pieces for California Fly Fisher and John Randolph composed printed a remembrance in Fly Fisherman Magazine.
The following few paragraphs were written by George Snyder and appeared in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat on January 23, 1995. Although George misinterpreted a few facts, the large majority of the piece is accurate.
“Memorial services will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Santa Rosa for Bill Schaadt, perhaps one of the most widely known fly fishermen on the Pacific Coast.
“Mr. Schaadt, a native of San Francisco, died of cancer last Tuesday in Santa Rosa surrounded by his fishing friends and family. He was 71.
“Mr. Schaadt made his living as a sign painter along the Russian River after moving to Monte Rio as a young man. He was known locally as an excellent pen-and-ink artist, producing cartoon and drawings not only of his beloved fish but of other subjects as well.
“He was perhaps best known for his love of fly fishing, using the technique in the ‘50s and ‘60s along the Russian River and also on the Pacific Coast’s major salmon and steelhead streams, including the Smith River in the northern part of the state and the Chetco in Oregon.
“Mr. Schaadt is also credited with being among the first West Coast Fly Fishermen to successfully use flies to catch saltwater fish, including striped bass and rock fish.
“Despite his modest living circumstances, Mr. Schaadt managed to fish Costa Rica, in the Florida Keys for trophy tarpon and in British Columbia. Mr. Schaadt, who was a friend of the late author Ted Trueblood, a former fishing editor for Field & Stream magazine, was profiled in that magazine and also Sports Illustrated, Outdoor Life and other wildlife publications.
“In addition, Mr. Schaadt was featured in popular books including “Steelhead Fly Fishing,” by Trey Combs, and “The Angler’s Coast,” by Russell Chatham, the author and artist from Livingston, Mont.
Bob Nauheim, the owner of Santa Rosa’s Fishing International tour company, was among several friends who were with him at the end. “He never married - his fly rods were his children. Unofficially, Bill holds the record for the largest salmon ever caught on a fly, at 57 pounds on the Smith River in the 1960s, [since beaten several times]” said Nauheim. “He was a natural. I was in awe of him when I first met him. Only a few people are legends in their own time, . . . and he was one of them.”
“Betty King, who along with her husband, Grant for many years ran King’s News and Tackle in Guerneville, called Mr. Schaadt “a man’s man,” Who was had to hide from lesser fishermen attempting to follow him to his secret fishing holes.
“Mr. Schaadt is survived by brothers, Robert, of Santa Rosa; and Howard, of San Francisco; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.”
- George Snyder
Posted by Justin on 01/19 at 09:09 AM in
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• Posted on 01/16 at 08:27 AM
This Saturday in Sacramento, CA. at the International Sportsmen Expo inside the Cal Expo fairgrounds, a documentary exploring the recurrent battles of California Fish and Game Wardens will debut in building A at 1:00pm.
The severely under-staffed and under-paid collection of California Game Wardens are held responsible for enforcing many of California’s most important environmental and wildlife protection laws.
Below is Sacramento Bee reporter Matt Weisser’s brief piece on the upcoming documentary, followed by a link to an NPR podcast on the California Game Warden situation.
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009
A documentary on the plight of California’s game wardens makes its world premiere on Saturday in Sacramento at the International Sportsmens Expo.
The 56-minute documentary reveals the challenges faced by the state Department of Fish and Game’s understaffed warden force. California has only about 200 game wardens to protect wildlife and water quality statewide, the lowest staffing ratio of any warden force in the U.S. and Canada. Yet it confronts what may be the biggest illegal wildlife trafficking problem in the nation, with an estimated black-market value of $100 million annually.
The film premieres at 1:30 Saturday in Building A at Cal Expo, which is hosting the hunting and fishing festival.
The film is the product of nearly two years of work by Snow Goose Productions, a father-and-son team of James and Andrew Swan based in Marin County. They followed game wardens by air, sea and land. Along the way, they collected footage including the bust of a 20,000-plant marijuana grove; a terrorist cell; and poaching of abalone, caviar and bear.
Jameson Parker, star of the former “Simon and Simon” television series, narrates the documentary. Following the screening, a panel will discuss economic and recruiting challenges faced by the warden force and consequences to the state’s wildlife. Panelists will include Nancy Foley, Fish and Game enforcement chief; Greg Yarris of the California Waterfowl Association; and Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta.
The International Sportsmens Expo runs Thursday through Sunday at Cal Expo. Daily admission is $15 for adults and $7 for children 13 and over. Children 12 and under are free. There is no additional cost to attend the film screening. For more information, visit http://www.sportsexpos.com
On the link below is an NPR podcast by Sacramento’s KQED Tamara Keith from “All Things Considered” April 12, 2008. Tamara goes along on a household raid with a collection of California Game Wardens while they bust illegal poachers who have been selling fish on the black market. The four and a half minute interview gives great insight into the constant battles of California’s Game Wardens.
NPR “All Things Considered” California Game Wardens, an endangered species
Posted by Justin on 01/16 at 08:27 AM in
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• Posted on 01/14 at 04:23 PM
In the flats of Florida there are daisy chains and meatballs, strings and bandits. If you’re lucky you’ll get an eat, maybe even a jump. In the Sacramento Delta there’s always shakers and schoolies. Wait long enough you might even get a toad. In the Catskills they fish with coffin flies. Anywhere it’s a memorable day if you get spooled, a forgettable one if it’s a skunk. Rip, short-strike and refusal. Clinch, surgeons, blood, loop, and the bimini twist. Steeple, double-haul, rodeo, roll and pile.
It’s a sport with a vernacular. Some terms tied to local others floating through the sport. An Angler’s library of terms seems to have become an acceptable measure of one’s competency. Did you hook up? Any Head Shakes?
The north coast was no different. You had to know the lingo if you were gonna step into the lineup. What kind of head were you using? I think I had a rub. Looks like that guy’s a washer.
And then there was The Bucket. It was a Bill Schaadt term made famous in a 1970s article by Bob Nauheim. The idea was simple, on any river, at any time of year, at any given moment, there was always a bucket. One place where you as angler had the greatest concentration of fish, the greatest odds of putting your fly in front of hungry fish. And this is what separated California fly fishing during the 1950s from Oregon and Washington. Unlike the northern states, were a more gentlemanly approach to the sport has always ruled, in California it was a selfish game. Find the bucket, beat everyone else there and don’t leave unless you’re deathly ill.
Posted by Justin on 01/14 at 04:23 PM in
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• Posted on 01/14 at 03:29 PM
Jeff Miller has dedicated more than ten years to fighting the good fight. Chipping away with a remarkable, resilient enthusiasm, Miller has helped the Alameda Creek Alliance create major changes in the urban south bay watershed. Jeff Miller understands the determination and guile needed to make changes in highly populated watersheds. We’d like to congratulate Jeff and the Alameda Creek Alliance on their continued efforts to restore Alameda Creek. In 2008, plans were made to create a fish ladder at the BART Weir. The large cement structure blocks adult steelhead and salmon from entering the spawning gravel of the upper watershed.
Below is a clip of Jeff Miller talking about the early days of restoring salmon and steelhead to Alameda Creek, and later, explaining why he feels anadromous fish are so important.
Posted by Justin on 01/14 at 03:29 PM in
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